


Little Talks

by orphan_account



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Foster Care, Multi, Other tags to be added, implied/reference child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 16:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16643792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Eliza and Maria take in Sally Hemings.*Originally posted 2016*





	Little Talks

**Author's Note:**

> i’m back?

Eliza was almost done cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast. Maria had cooked and therefore it meant that Eliza had to clean. It was sort of a routine they followed, whoever didn’t fix the meal would clean up the kitchen afterwards as a way of saying thanks for the other’s cooking. It was usually Maria who cooked breakfast and Eliza who cooked dinner. Maria was at work for lunch, so that usually fell to Eliza too since it was summer and there were no classes for her to teach and any work she had to do like planning next school years lessons could be done from home.

 

Once Eliza had finished drying and putting away the dishes, she brewed up some coffee, one mug for her and one mug for her wife. On a normal day Maria would be heading off to work now, but she had both taken two weeks off in order to help the young girl, Sally Hemings, they were fostering to settle into their house. Eliza glanced at the clock, seeing that it was only a couple of hours until she was supposed to arrive.

 

Carrying the mugs into the living room, she sat one down next to Maria who was hunched over the girl’s file which they had both read more times than necessary. They both knew this wasn’t going to be an easy ride, the social worker had warned them about that, reading the file it was hard not to burst into tears. The girl had been through much more than Eliza and Maria had in their whole lives even though she was only 11.

 

“She should be here in a few hours,” Eliza smiled as she took a sip from her cup to which Maria responded with a small nod. “In an hour or two we should probably give the house a quick clean up. Make sure her room is ready.”

 

“Alright,” Maria nodded again, flipping the page and scanning the writing quickly before she leaned back in the chair and picked up her coffee. “She’s coming at around 12, right? So we have 3 hours. Okay. We should probably make lunch when she comes, which one of us should do that?”

 

“I can,” Eliza volunteered. “You made breakfast. I usually make it for myself anyway so it shouldn’t be a problem,” she moved forward, taking the file from Maria’s hand. When Maria opened her mouth to protest, Eliza spoke instead. “Hey. You’ve read it enough-”

 

“I just want to make sure we’re prepared for everything-”

 

“Honey, you know we already are,” Eliza put down her coffee and crossed the room to give her wife a kiss on the cheek. “We took those courses. We’ll be fine.”

 

“It’s just her social worker said that she’s so-”

 

“I know what she said. But she’ll be fine, okay?” Eliza kissed Maria again, but this time on the lips.

 

She knew where Maria was coming from, she’d had many of the same thoughts, but Maria had been asking the same questions for the past week since they had gotten the call. It was unusual to get that long of a period to prepare for a new child, the other two they had fostered they had received the details only a day before and so they didn’t really have time to think about the what-ifs. But this time, Eliza was pretty sure that between them, they’d covered them all.

 

The couple wasted an hour flicking between channels, with Maria complaining with every show they changed to that daytime TV was crap and she didn’t know how Eliza put up with it. Eliza just told her she didn’t really watch it, which was the truth. She much preferred the shows on Netflix.

 

After that, they decided to give the house a quick clean. It wasn’t as if there was much to be done; the two usually kept the house relatively clean, they still wanted to make sure it was perfect. Despite Eliza’s protests, Maria insisted on dusting almost everything and Eliza was sure she was just trying to occupy herself. There was no way almost every piece of furniture in the house needed dusting.

 

Eliza eventually gave in and let Maria do what she wanted, heading upstairs to where Sally’s room was. Everything looked good other than there being no bed sheet or covers on, but that was only because they were going to let Sally choose from the couple of options they had before they took her shopping so she could choose her own.

 

She had just made her way back downstairs and sat down in one of the armchairs when the knock sounded at the door. She stood, making her way into the hallway where Maria joined her, brushing down her clothes. Eliza had to try not to laugh as Maria brushed non-existent dirt off her clothes. 

 

“You look fine, love.” She reassured her as she moved to the door and opened it.

 

The girl hiding behind her social worker looked no older than nine at most, her head bent as she stared at the floor and long blonde hair falling into her face. One hand held a battered backpack and one was fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

 

“This is Sally,” her social worker gestured to the girl who didn’t even look up when her name was called. “I trust you’ve both read the file?”

 

“Plenty of times,” Maria answered, stepping back from the door. “Would you like to come in?”

 

“I’m afraid I can’t,” The social worker shook her head, which didn’t surprise Maria or Eliza in the slightest. “I’m sure Sally would like to though.”

 

Sally looked up at this, glancing up at her social worker who nudged her gently forward. She stepped in, dropping her gaze back down to the floor once she was inside. Eliza noticed that she was fiddling with her shirt even more. 

 

“I’ll be back in a week to check up on how she’s doing,” her social worker said, ruffling Sally’s hair. She didn’t seem to notice how Sally flinched when she was touched, but Maria and Eliza definitely did. “You be good now, I don’t want any more phone calls.” 

 

After a polite goodbye, Eliza closed the door and Maria crouched down in front of Sally who was still not spoken a word.

 

“Hey there sweetie,” Maria’s voice was soft as if she was talking to a spooked animal. “I’m Maria and that’s my wife Eliza. We’re very happy to have you here. Now, Eliza was just about to make lunch. Shall we head into the kitchen and see what we have?”

 

When Sally nodded, Maria straightened up and held out her hand for Sally to take which the young girl did hesitantly. The three made their way into the kitchen where Eliza headed towards the fridge and Maria sat Sally down at the table.

 

“What do you want, Sally?” Eliza asked as she scanned the contents of the fridge. It was pretty full, since her and Maria had gone shopping two days ago. 

 

“D’you have toast?” The girl asked quietly, staring down at her hands. 

 

“Well, we don’t have it, but we can make it,” Eliza said, closing the fridge door and heading over to the cupboard where they kept the bread. “How about I make French toast instead of regular? Does that sound good?”

 

“I’ve never had French toast, ma’am.” Sally mumbled and Eliza had to take a moment to work out what she had said. 

 

“Well, it’s really good,” Maria smiled. “And Eliza makes the best French toast I’ve ever tasted.”

 

“I can always make regular toast if you’d prefer. It was just a suggestion,” Eliza shrugged. “And there’s no need to call me ma’am sweetie, Eliza will do fine.”

 

“I guess we can have French toast,” Sally said. “If it’s okay with you two.”

 

“It’s more than okay.” Eliza beamed and set about preparing the food.

 

It didn’t take long and soon enough all three were sat at the table with plates of French toast. Eliza had made quite a few slices, placing them on a plate in the middle of the table so that everyone could take however many they wanted.

 

It was Maria who noticed that Sally hadn’t even taken anything and was just staring at the toast. She sent a confused look over to Eliza before she leaned over slightly. 

 

“Why aren’t you eating?” She asked, frowning slightly.

 

“You didn’t say I could,” She looked away from the plate of toast and towards Maria, a look of absolute terror crossing her face. “You’re not mad? I’ll get a piece now I’ll-I’m sorry, I-”

 

“Sally,” Eliza said gently, cutting her off. “Hey, it’s okay. Any food we out on this table or have in this house you’re allowed to eat. You don’t need permission, darling.”

 

“Okay.” The girl nodded, picking a slice from the plate before putting it on her own. “Thank you.”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

Eliza was surprised at the speed with which Sally wolfed down the slice she was given. It was almost as if she hadn’t had anything to eat that day. Eliza looked to Maria who gave her a small shake of the head to tell her not to bring it up.

 

The two times she reached for a new slice, Sally asked for permission, eating the food as fast as she could whilst giving Eliza and Maria wary looks as if they were going to try and take the food away from her before she finished it.

 

Whilst Maria was cleaning up the kitchen, Eliza led Sally to her room, explaining the rules on the way. There weren’t many other than the standard rules which the girl had probably heard a lot of times before. Eliza offered to help Sally unpack, but Sally claimed she could do it herself, asking Eliza if she was allowed to close the door. Confused, Eliza nodded and left the room. She heard Sally’s door shut slowly behind her. What kind of homes had the girl previously had been in if she had to ask for permission to eat food put out in front of her and to close the door? Eliza dreaded to think.

 

“Did you see her eating? It was like she expected us to take the food from her at any minute,” Maria mumbled as Eliza entered the kitchen. Eliza nodded in agreement. “I feel so guilty-”

 

“It’s not your fault,” Eliza wrapped Maria in a hug. “You’re doing great with her. I promise.”


End file.
